I understood the concern to mean the distraction the laptop causes
out-of-class time. Leopard has a timer which a student could impose on
themselves to help them have an awareness of time management. There are
3rd party PC equivalents, I'm sure. Of course, whether in dorms or at
home, it always helps to have someone looking out for your best
interests and who will remind you that there is life off the laptop to
engage in. I am sure there are many folks reading this email that do
this for their spouses (or their spouses do this for them). It's not
just the kids who get sucked into the computer!
-Ann
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Patricia Moser
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 6:53 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Lessons for avoiding the laptop as a distraction
Friends,
=20
We've been running a one-to-one laptop pilot this year in the sixth
grade. The evaluations we've gotten from students, teachers, and
parents have been great, but a few have noted the distraction problem.
A parent of one of the students asked if there are any "experts" out
there who could teach children how to handle the tantalizing distraction
of the laptop. She wrote, "Even when [my daughter] was not using [her
laptop], she said, she felt like it was 'calling out her name to play a
game or something.'" I suspect that this has a lot to do with study
skills and maturity, but I wonder if any of you have any lesson plans or
ideas that we could use to help students in the 6th and 7th grades
better manage the distraction aspects of the laptop. We use DyKnow in
the classroom, so teachers have the option to restrict student use, but
I am looking for effective ways of helping students monitor their own
use in constructive ways, not only in the classroom but when they take
their laptops home. These would be lessons that we would teach early on
in the school year when they first get their laptops. Any thoughts?
=20
Patt
=20
Patt Moser
Director of Information Services and Upper School Librarian
Sidwell Friends School
3825 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington DC 20016
Office: 202-537-8164
Mobile: 202-595-4941
Email: moserp@sidwell.edu
Skype: moserp
=20
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